


Difficult

by EctoHoltzmann, ForxGood



Series: The Five Families [2]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Blood, F/F, Mafia AU, Sexy Times, The Five Families, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:48:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9446117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EctoHoltzmann/pseuds/EctoHoltzmann, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForxGood/pseuds/ForxGood
Summary: Holtzmann returns from her off-the-books hit a little worse for wear. Erin rewards her for a job well done.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Yet again, another installment of The Five Familes series from EctoHoltzmann and ForxGood. 
> 
> Direct sequel to Arrangements.

When she returned, it was close to 4 AM, and all was calm and quiet as she knocked on the locked doors dividing Erin and herself.

She tried her best to straighten her suit with one hand, her left shoulder having a probably deep laceration. She told herself she’d had worse. Not that she’d have to lie to herself. It was more of a reminder.

When the door opened, the blonde smiled slightly, but would wait to be inside before speaking.

Erin had actually gotten quite a bit of work done, planning and organizing and making preparations for both the transition of power and the funeral of her father. She refused to be reduced to the stereotype of the poor damsel waiting for her hero to return, about as useful as a sexy lamp.

Not that she didn’t worry for Holtzmann, but she also knew the blonde was skilled. She could take care of herself just fine, and Erin worrying over her would do neither of them any good. So here she was, making a few more notes in the personnel files - trying to identify the ones who might have some trouble with the daughter taking over - when she heard a signature knock on the door.

_Holtzmann._

She immediately jumped up from the bed, but took a few seconds to compose herself before walking over to the door and opening it, gasping involuntarily as she saw how banged-up her lover was. Pulling the blonde inside, only slightly careful not to hurt her more, she shut the door behind them, before leaning back against it and glaring at the blonde. “What on Earth  _happened_  to you?” She hissed, somehow worried that they would be overheard. “I thought this was supposed to be a simple job.”

She pulled off her gloves before setting them to the side, unbuttoning her suit jacket as she went. Holtzmann was in pain, yes, but not in a serious way. “It was but the boy was a fighter, dead, but he tried.” she didn’t even ask, she just walked into the bathroom that was attached and sat on the edge of the bathtub.

“Laceration. Left shoulder.” she finally looked up at Erin, noting her worried expression. Holtzmann sighed and her face softened, the blonde taking Erin by the hand and pulling her close.  
Holtzmann pressed her forehead to the taller woman’s abdomen, wrapping her good arm around her hip loosely. “Would you mind stitching me up, babydoll?” she rarely risked those terms… But she was in pain and she needed Erin more than she ever expressed. Moments like this were the closest she’d ever gotten.

Erin breathed out a small sigh of relief, glad to see Holtzmann was okay. Or at least, not as badly hurt as she expected. She honestly didn’t want to find out how she’d react should she ever lose the blonde at this point.

Following her into the bathroom, Erin nodded in understanding, grabbing the first aid kit she kept around specifically for situations such as these. This wasn’t their first case that required them stitching the other up, and it wouldn’t be the last. Still, she had to take a few seconds to stop her hands from shaking, especially when the blonde pulled her close.

Kneeling down so she was at eye-level with Holtzmann, she reached up to brush a strand of hair out of the blonde’s face. “You do know you’re not leaving my sight for the rest of the night, right?” What with having been forced to live so long keeping up a facade of not getting attached to people, it was difficult to shake Erin from her world of expectations. Still, the way she was looking at the blonde spoke volumes.  _ **I love you. I want you safe. But most of all, Please don’t leave me here alone.**_

Pressing a soft kiss to the blonde’s forehead, Erin turned on the tap, cleaning the wound on Holtz’s shoulder before setting to work on the stitches. “Any other injuries I need to know about?”

“A mildly bruised ego…” she worked her way out of her shirt, watching Erin clean her shoulder. The blonde didn’t wince, didn’t flinch, she was unphased entirely. Her voice was fairly monotone, not really used to breaking herself out of her mindset after hits… Well not so quickly at least.

Holtzmann watched for a moment as the stitches began before staring off at some random spot on the tile wall. Erin’s words and tone hasn’t gone unnoticed, it was just hard for her to be a real person at the moment.

“I know.” she forced herself to take a deep breath. Holtzmann needed a stiff drink and a smoke before she could even begin to reset herself. “Don’t worry, carved a few incriminating sigils into him before I left.”

She looked down at her attire, frowning at the blood on net nice shoes. “Seriously?” Holtzmann clenched her fists.

Erin let out a small chuckle at that, carefully beginning to stitch up the wound. It was a little deeper than she had thought it would have been, and found herself mildly annoyed that she had no one to punish for hurting Holtzmann. The blonde was  _ **hers**_ , for all intents and purposes, and messing with her meant messing with Erin. And Erin didn’t take too kindly to people with such behaviour.

Still, this was an off-the-books mission, as it were, which meant Erin just had to suck it up, and let out her frustrations some other way. Luckily, she had a very nice outlet right next to her. Or at least; she would, once she got her all stitched up. Another reason why Erin hated it when Holtzmann got back hurt, she  _ **hated**_  having to hold herself back.

“Good.” She hummed, dropping a kiss to Holtz’s bare shoulder once she finished stitching her up. Wrapping the bandages around the wound, Erin felt herself growing more and more impatient at the menial task, willing herself to remember that last time she’d done a shoddy and rushed job stitching Holtzmann up, she’d gotten blood all over her good sheets.

(Which Erin found added to the atmosphere, but had been a  _ **nightmare**_  to get out).

Still, her free hand had already tangled in Holtz’s hair, kissing her way down the blonde’s jaw. “I feel like I should be more angry at you for coming home hurt.”

Blue eyes were glassy as her head was tipped back, a lot of things flashing in her mind. Her breathing was steady now and even though Erin had a hand in her hair… She was still very much in control. She liked it, Holtzmann knew that.

“As if your anger ever made me apprehensive.” The blonde may have been in only the lower portion of her suit and a bra, but she was still a ball of muscle.

Her hands shot up, seizing Erin by the collar as she stood, dragging the other woman up with her. Erin was playing with fire. They both knew it. Holtzmann let her hands firmly grasp Erin’s throat. “I used my hands, just… like… this…”

The assassin squeezed just enough to make her struggle. Holtzmann leaned forward, brushing her lips against Erin’s. “Just like you wanted.”

Erin chuckled against the blonde’s skin, moving her other hand to wrap around Holtzmann’s waist. “That doesn’t bode well for my future as a leader.” She grinned, knowing full well that most of the time, Erin was only letting Holtzmann dominate her because that was exactly what she wanted. She needed to relinquish control sometimes, thriving off the reminder that everyone could be broken.

Even know, Erin felt comforted with the knowledge that she knew she was purposely riling Holtzmann up. The blonde was never more dangerous than after she’d just come back from a kill, and Erin revelled in it. Feeling herself be pulled up by the collar of her shirt, she let out a mixture of a gasp and a moan when she felt the blonde’s strong hands close around her throat. She knew Holtzmann could snap her neck in a heartbeat, could choke the life out of her without batting an eye, and really, it should probably have unnerved Erin a lot more when she found out she had a thing for that, literally placing her life in Holtzmann’s hands. But she’d been much too caught up to think about that at the time, and after that… Well, she’d just filed it away as one of those things that came with the job.

She hungrily responded to the kiss, releasing her hold on the blonde’s wrist to wrap her arms around her neck, pulling her closer.

The kiss was rough, full of hot breath and teeth as felt Erin’s pulse hammer against her palms. She squeezed a little more, digging in her fingernails just enough to bite into the taller woman’s skin without leaving a mark. Granted she would love to leave bruises around her throat.

A lot could happen in this situation but the blonde relaxed her grip before rolling her shoulders and pulling Erin out of the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at her with hardened eyes.

Holtzmann reached up, lacing her fingers in Erin’s hair and using it as a handhold to force her down to her level. “Knees. Now.”

“No marks this time.” Erin managed to get out in between kisses, Holtzmann’s breath hot against her lips. What with the funeral and the transition coming up, it wouldn’t do for Erin to be walking around sporting strangulation bruises for no good reason. She’d covered them up with make-up before, but that took time and effort, both of which were currently better served elsewhere.

Holtzmann seemed to understand, though, Erin responding by tangling her hands in the blonde’s hair again, her fingernails scraping over her scalp. More than anything, it was a way for Erin to find something to hold on to, not really trusting her legs not to give out the moment she let go. 

As soon as Holtzmann loosened her grip, however, Erin got her cue, letting go of the blonde as she hastily followed her into the bedroom. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to just straddle Holtzmann right there and then, but she knew better. When Holtzmann was in this type of mood, Erin was just here to obey her, gasping when she felt the blonde’s hands tug at her hair, sinking to her knees almost immediately.

(The fact that her legs had pretty much turned to jelly certainly helped with that. And god, if anyone found out how much of a submissive kink Erin apparently had, she could kiss her career goodbye. Her father was probably rolling in his grave right now.)

(But considering the fact that Erin and Holtz had been the one to put him there, that only made Erin enjoy this more.)

Getting the hint, Erin placed a kiss to Holtz’s toned stomach, already fumbling with the belt.

 

The blonde’s breath hitched barely, blue eyes focusing on the other woman now travelling down between her legs. Her blood still felt hot in her veins. Holtzmann’s hand immediately went to Erin’s hair, lifting her hips just slightly as her belt was tugged.

She remembered the first time she had discovered this detail about Erin. The blonde hand come back one night, covered in blood once again, her own nose broken. Holtzmann fixed it herself, causing more blood to spill across her lips.

Erin had kissed her, hard. She still remembered Erin licking her blood off her lips. Holtzmann had roughly taken her, the taller woman bent over the bathroom counter. It’s also when they realized this wasn’t a fleeting relationship.

Holtzmann whispered only one thing as she watched Erin, “Good girl.”

Despite her trembling hands, Erin made quick work of getting Holtzmann out of her pants, a small moan escaping her lips at the sensation of the blonde’s fingers pulling at her hair. She talked a good game, but Holtzmann had a way of undoing it all, literally bringing Erin to her knees with just a few words and well-placed touches. She was feeling positively dizzy with arousal as her hands trailed up the blonde’s bare thighs, Erin getting a little more comfortable between the blonde’s legs before delving in, her tongue moving against Holtzmann with slow, precise strokes.

In hindsight, she supposed she never really stood a chance against Jillian Holtzmann. When she had started this, dragging Holtzmann into her bed under the guise of loneliness, it had just been fun. Holtzmann was a good lay, and Erin told herself that as long as she didn’t get attached, it would all be fine. 

Clearly, that had worked out  _very_  well.

She  leaned back slightly, propping herself up on her elbow even though her shoulder burned with pain. Holtzmann ignored it, the assassin looking down at Erin with heavy eyes as she fought the urge to roll her hips into her tongue.

Holtzmann loved this, it made killing people even easier when she knew there would most likely be a pleasant reward waiting for her when she got home. It was the best sex of her life, which didn’t bode well for her mental stability when she really thought about it.

At least she found someone just as equally fucked in the head as she was.

She kept her fingers tangled in Erin’s hair, watching her tongue work. The sight of her on her knees in front of the blonde, the feeling, it was intoxicating. It didn’t take long for a the familiar warmth to coil in the pit of her stomach.

Holtzmann tightened her grip, manipulating Erin’s head slightly as her own breath came out in a low moan.

In all honesty, Erin had half a mind to make the blonde beg for it. Sure, Holtzmann was in control, but Erin still wasn’t pleased with the way she had come home.  _Hurt_. Bad enough to need stitches. Because as much as seeing Holtzmann all beaten and bloodied was an immense turn-on for Erin, there was a fine line between pleasure and pain, and the last thing Erin wanted was to be reminded of how she could theoretically lose Holtzmann in a heartbeat.

It was part of the reason why initially, she had vehemently denied any feelings she found herself having for the blonde. After Erin’s initial realization, she had tried her hardest to put some distance between them, vowing to herself to stop sleeping with Holtzmann and find someone else to satisfy her needs. But despite her best efforts, she kept finding herself dragging Holtzmann into her bed, pushing her up against walls, each time more desperate and hungry for her touch. Afterwards, she’d loudly insist that this meant nothing, that Holtzmann was nothing more than a distraction to her. An employee, meaningless in the grand scheme of things. 

All lies, of course, or she wouldn’t be here right now, allowing herself to be dominated by her lover like this. It was why she deemed it best not to test the other woman, not tonight at least. What with everything going on, they both had enough on their plates as it was. No need for Erin to put on a little rebellion act this time. Instead, she just allowed herself to be guided by Holtzmann, reading her lover’s responses and responding accordingly, determined to make her forget about anything that wasn’t her.

She often asked herself if she could live without the other woman. In the beginning it was simple, it was a yes. But now, things had changed. In a way that made her job more difficult, in some ways it made it even better. Either way, she was certain she wouldn’t be the same woman without Erin. She’d lock herself down again, stay cold and stoic, merciless in her work. It was how she was best, or at least it was.  
Holtzmann had grown to enjoy the simple, soft moments between them. Those, like anything else below the surface, were left behind closed doors.

The blonde’s head tilted back as her breathing became laboured, uneven, almost harsh. Her grip tightened further as she came against Erin’s tongue, the other woman’s name leaving her lips as enjoyed waves of release. She needed it, needed her… she really did.

When she released Erin’s hair, the assassin sat up more, guiding her up with a tender touch to kiss her, humming against her as she tasted herself on Erin's tongue. All the harshness had left her blue eyes, looking down at the other woman with adoration.

“I lov-” She stopped herself short, swallowing hard, trying to blame the slip on a lack of composure.

She stayed between the blonde’s legs for a little while longer, helping her come down, Erin felt herself smile, always pleased at a job well done. Hearing her name fall from Holtzmann’s lips was like fucking music, and Erin wondered if she’d ever get enough of her; her touch, her voice, her taste…

Allowing the blonde to guide her back up, her lips brushing against Holtzmann’s, Erin hummed contently, melting into the blonde. As much as she still had a reputation to uphold, and as much as she had always tried to distance herself from personal attachments, there was something about being with Jillian Holtzmann that made her break all those promises she made to herself. Holtzmann actually brought out an affectionate side in her, a side she had so often associated only with useless characters in romantic fiction. A side she’d never thought she’d have to associate with  _herself_. But here she was, kissing her lover, with no rush and no political agenda, for no reason other than that Erin just wanted to be with her.

“Ssshhhh…” Erin shut her up by kissing her again, her fingers slowly threading through blonde curls as the rolled over smoothly, Holtzmann resting against her chest contently. “I know. So do I.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to say it. Not yet. Saying it made it real, and while Erin was already pretty damn sure that nothing could make her change her mind on Jillian Holtzmann, she wasn’t sure she was ready for it to be real. Because if it was real, then Holtzmann had a target on her back. If it was real, there was the potential of a future together, of possibly uniting two houses, and there were a  _lot_  of people who would be strictly against that. 

She knew she’d have to face the metaphorical music at some point. After all, it wasn’t exactly a secret how they felt about each other. But right now, they could just play it off as basic favouritism, as a normal way for Erin to occupy her time, as it were. They didn’t need to know that Erin Gilbert would burn down cities to get her vengeance if anyone dared to take Holtzmann away from her.

That was all she needed to hear, they said it without saying it, and it was frightening. It was true that they were the worst kept secret in the syndicate, but they normally did a good job at pretending not to give a shit about each other.

Holtzmann's blue eyes closed, sinking into the feeling of Erin’s hands in her hair. If anyone else knew this fact about her, she’d never hear the end of it… well she would eventually, but that would involve murdering someone in cold blood to prove a point.

Later, Erin always promised herself. Later, when things were less hectic and she could be sure that no one would go after Holtzmann for leverage over her. Not that it would work; Erin was a professional first and foremost. But she also knew she’d end up with survivors guilt, unhinged and unstable, resulting in a bloodied, glorious ruin of her own little empire.

For now, she just let herself have this, these little moment where it was just the two of them, the few minutes during which they didn’t need to worry about appearances or imminent dangers.

When Erin straightened up, she rested her head against her chest, breathing in the familiar scent as a small buzz could be heard on the bedside table; It was her phone.

Cracking an eye, she reached out to take it, unlocking it with a swipe of her thumb and immediately settling into her professional voice, even with her head against her lover.

“Talk.” there was a pause and then she went rigid. “Excuse me?” Another pause then she shot up, brushing past Erin and back into the bathroom to get her shirt and jacket… this night was never going to end.

“If you don’t have him when I show up, I’m putting a bullet in your skull!” She forced the phone into her pocket, a scowl over her features as she tossed everything on but didn’t care enough about the tie.

“We have a visitor.” She crossed the room, pulling on her shoulder holster even though it sat across her injury. Holtzmann turned to face Erin, searching her face for a split second before kissing her with surprising softness. “I have to go…”

Of course that didn’t last too long. (God forbid Erin Gilbert actually had time to properly enjoy her lover’s company). Hearing the urgency in the blonde’s voice, Erin didn’t argue for a second, simply helping Holtz into her shirt and jacket, knowing that would be difficult enough with a stitched-up shoulder.

“Go. Do what you do best. But I demand to know how on Earth someone managed to get this far without your team noticing. I will not allow any mistakes, Holtzmann.” And just like that, they were back to being all business. Holtzmann still had a target to protect, Erin still had an empire to run, and feelings of love had no place in such environments.

Still, Erin stopped Holtzmann before she left the room, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before she turned back to the files still spread out over her desk.

The second kiss was a surprise, but she accepted it graciously. 

“Don’t worry. I was thinking about a thinning of the herd anyway. This makes for a great excuse.” She smiled, even through the seriousness, she smiled at Erin before fishing out her handgun and pulling back the slide with practiced ease.

“I’ll make sure to find out every detail. Please do me a favor and look at some possible candidates that need a promotion.” She turned smoothly and winked at her lover before the cold washed backed over her features.

Nothing would ever be easy.


End file.
